


Half a Year

by OverlyCheerfulRat



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Blindness, Caretaking, Cerebral Palsy, Disabled Character, Epilepsy, F/M, Past Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 09:04:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18962131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlyCheerfulRat/pseuds/OverlyCheerfulRat
Summary: Jupiter Jones, hired as a caretaker for the oldest son of the very wealthy Seraphi Abrasax, begins a relationship with the gardener while dealing with Balem's temper.





	Half a Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [realisations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realisations/gifts).



> sorry about the bad summary, i'm drunk atm.

The position had been advertised as a live-in maid, but when Seraphi welcomed Jupiter into her house (mansion, really, almost a castle) she explained that they already had a maid, and she in fact needed a caretaker for her son. “Just a typo, sorry, but the pay is the same. I’m sure you’ve heard of my philanthropic work?” “Uh, yeah, of course,” Jupiter lied politely. “Well, since I spent so much time working with disabled children, I ended up adopting three. I wasn’t able to conceive on my own, you see. I adopted Balem and Kalique as newborns, and Titus was about two years old, I think.” She had led Jupiter into a huge dining room and gestured for her to sit. “Naturally, I don’t have time to care for them myself, so I’ve always hired nurses. They’re all in their twenties- no, sorry, Titus is only nineteen. Kalique and Balem are, let’s see, twenty and twenty-three. How old are you, Ms. Jones?”

Jupiter, who had been awkwardly nodding along throughout the spiel, blinked at the sudden question. “I just turned twenty-three.” “Well, that’s fine. He might respond better to someone his own age. Anyway, I hired a series of nurses to care for them- Kalique and Titus have always got on very nicely with theirs, but Balem is… ah… difficult. When he was a child, I assumed it was frustration with his speech impediment- it isn’t severe, but he stammers when he’s upset, which of course only makes him more upset. Did I tell you what’s wrong with all of them?” Jupiter shook her head, mildly dazed. “Balem has cerebral palsy, not terribly severe, but he needs assistance with most tasks. He hates it, by the way, expect him to fight you on every little thing. Kalique is blind, poor dear, but she does have just the sweetest little seeing eye dog, and Titus has fairly severe epilepsy. It isn’t photosensitive, but of course flashing lights don’t exactly help. Do you have any questions?”

Clearing her throat, Jupiter gave a weak smile. “Um, Miss Abrasax, I’m not qualified to…” Seraphi just smiled and patted her hand. “I know, dear, and it’s fine. I have to pay nurses quite a bit extra to deal with Balem’s tantrums, and to be frank, I’m running out of professionals. The last caretaker I hired seemed like a nice older man, but unfortunately he was a bit… the word Titus used was ‘molest-y’. So Balem’s refused to have a male caretaker from now on, and since I’d have to pay the nurses hand over fist, I thought a sweet immigrant girl might be best. I won’t be raising your pay, but if he drives you crazy, you can quit. Please stay at least half the year, will you? That’s the longest anyone’s ever stayed,” she said with a laugh.

Before Jupiter had time to do anything but nod, Seraphi grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hall. “You’ll be sleeping in the same room as Balem, in case he chokes in his sleep or something like that,” she explained as she threw open a door. Jupiter stepped in hesitantly, and locked eyes with a small, fragile-looking young man slumped in a wheelchair by the window. He barely glanced at her before looking over to Seraphi and giving her a small, twitchy smile. “Mama, how are y-” “I found a new caretaker,” Seraphi interrupted. “Balem, meet Jupiter Jones. Try not to scare this one off.” “Hi,” Jupiter offered, waving in (she hoped) a cool, non-dorky fashion. Balem sneered dismissively and turned back to his mother. “I don’t need a c-caretaker,” he said coldly.

Seraphi smiled and nodded indulgently. “You know I don’t have time to give you and your siblings all the help you need, so just cooperate with Miss Jones. Jupiter, dear, let me speak with you in the hall for a minute?” In the hall, Seraphi closed the door and gave Jupiter a warm smile. “I think you’ve got the job, then. Are you comfortable with feeding, changing diapers, bathing, things of that nature?” “Yeah, I guess,” Jupiter responded, still deeply confused. “Excellent. I’ll let you two get to know each other, in that case. If Balem throws anything at you, it probably won’t get very far, but you can just dodge if you need to. Slap him if you need to, I don’t mind.” With that, she gently pushed Jupiter into Balem’s room and made her exit.


End file.
